Being vegan is healthy and good for the environment, but do you know all of the following interesting facts about the trending lifestyle? Some of these might surprise you! Here are ten vegan facts that can help you go vegan, and stay that way.

1. Grain that is used to feed livestock for meat production could feed 1.3 billion people.

2. Wheat is earth-friendly! You’ve probably heard that it takes a lot of water to produce meat. In actual fact, it takes 2,500 gallons to make just one pound of meat. On the other hand, it only takes 25 gallons of our valuable water to grow one pound of wheat.

3. Most cases of food poisoning (up to 80%), are due to infected meat.

4. Reports that vegans are healthier are not myth-based. According to the American Dietetic Association (ADA), people who follow a vegan or vegetarian diet tend to display lower blood cholesterol, lower blood pressure, less chance of getting colon and prostate cancer, and a decreased rate of Ischemic Heart Disease.

5. Shockingly, every hour in the United States 500,000 animals are killed for their meat.

6. Although people are consuming too many antibiotics for their own health, (about 3 million pounds annually in the U.S. alone), animals receive even more. Livestock are fed up to 17.8 million pounds a year, and this number could actually be less than what is really being given to them.

7. You’re actively doing your bit to save the forests by being vegan. Forests are alarmingly cleared so that the land can be used for crops so that meat-based diets can be produced. Every year, just one person who sticks to a vegetarian diet will save an entire acre of trees.

8. By not eating meat, you’re also helping to ease the problem of pollution. Almost 20% of pollution that is man-made originates from the meat industry. This has placed factory farming ahead of transport in how much it contributes to the planet’s greenhouse effect!

9. Contrary to popular belief, there are many supermarket products that are vegan. These include even processed snack foods like Oreos (they don’t contain real dairy!) and dark chocolate. A good tip when shopping: Products that are listed as cholesterol-free are often vegan, as bad cholesterol only comes from animal products.

10. Vegan foods are frequently lower in calories because they give a miss to unhealthy fats.

Sources:

• Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer
• Smart Choices
• Facts About Veganism and Vegetarianism
• theflamingvegan.com

*Image courtesy Flickr creative commons.